i just got a used 110 craftsmen MIG with gas full tank but some times the welder cuts in and out starts sputering and poping. some times it will work fine others it wont any ideas?thanx

Wire jamming on the spool, kinked cable maybe?

A couple of suggestions.

1) Your wire may be to long. The tip of your gun should be about 1/4" away from your material.

2) If your distance is ok, try increasing the feed speed.

3) Try to keep your wrist action consistant. Keep a nice half moon arc between the two pieces you're working on. Try not to let your hand jump around.

4) Practice, practice, practice!

I'm sure others will be more helpfull. We have some real pro's on this BB!


Good luck!

Both of the above replys could be onto something BUT to know which one is heading in the right directionwe need to know- Are you an experienced welder? If yes then were talking about a possible machine problem - then follow velocjs' advice , and blow out the gun liner with air. If your a newbie to it then you'll have to ask yourself if you are doing some of the things that Rubicrawler suggested.

Although if I were to have to guess now I'd look at the
1. contact tip
2. wire spool
3. wire drive roll alignment
4. dirty old gun liner (did you get a manual? it should show you how to get it apart)

For others reading this---- if its a gun liner he will have to expect a special order sears part # , and a few days wait or longer for the part. Now (and I'm not hammering him) If he had bought a RED or Blue machine (wont name names:D ) he could go down to a local weld supply next day , and pick one up. Just one more reason to buy from the pros.
toy 4 rox I hope we helped (i know you got it used to!), and usally you can limp on that gun liner if you clean it out well atleast until you get a replacement here.
weldpro

Hey weldpro I have the "blue machine "and when I went to order a new gunliner it took a week to get it unless I wanted to pay extra for Overnight.

Originally posted by weldpro
Both of the above replys could be onto something BUT to know which one is heading in the right directionwe need to know- Are you an experienced welder? If yes then were talking about a possible machine problem - then follow velocjs' advice , and blow out the gun liner with air. If your a newbie to it then you'll have to ask yourself if you are doing some of the things that Rubicrawler suggested.

Although if I were to have to guess now I'd look at the
1. contact tip
2. wire spool
3. wire drive roll alignment
4. dirty old gun liner (did you get a manual? it should show you how to get it apart)

For others reading this---- if its a gun liner he will have to expect a special order sears part # , and a few days wait or longer for the part. Now (and I'm not hammering him) If he had bought a RED or Blue machine (wont name names:D ) he could go down to a local weld supply next day , and pick one up. Just one more reason to buy from the pros.
toy 4 rox I hope we helped (i know you got it used to!), and usally you can limp on that gun liner if you clean it out well atleast until you get a replacement here.
weldpro i am a newbie but can weld pritty good on my naibers 220.i had my bro come over and he is a good welder and it did the same to him,he welds all the stuff that needs to look good or be strong:D i am doing a XO cage so he is doing most of the welding.how do you clean the gun liner?with air?how do you know if it needs replaceing.could it do that if you go past the duty cycle?i i will get new wire and tip today.thanx

Is the welding material free of paint and rust? Oils or greases can also cause that.

I was goofing around with my welder the other day laying some big practice beads and all of a sudden I got a bad case of porosity. The wire would pop and crackle and the weld quality instantly showed problems. I tired to adjust a few things and it was still all messed up. Then I threw in a new contact tip and the welds were excellent again. The old contact tip was in there for quite a while and it probably had become a little oversized with so much use. I think the contact tip is used to pass the electricity from the machine to the wire. So the tip must be tight. If not, you won't get a good short circuit and your machine will weld like garbage. This is why the contact tips are considered "consumable". This reminds me, I need to clean my liner as well.

make sure everything is set up with the wire and wire speed. you might want to replace the insert for the wire guide. make sure everything can move smoothly and you'll get a good weld.

i'm taking a fabrication class right now.

my welds were looking like crap. i was drinking loads of caffinated pop. well this semester i stoppped drinking it and now i have really good welds. the caffine was making me all shacky.:usa:

You could have a problem with low voltage at your electrical outlet, that was my problem.

I had the same problem and it turned out to be the contact tip. Replace them frequently, as they are a consumable part. Also, these 110 migs don't really have enough juice to burn through thick paint and stuff (not to mention that such impurities weaken the weld), so I make sure I really clean and prep my surface (usually with a wire wheel on my angle grinder) before I paint on it. Once I started this habit, the welder started burning a lot better and the beads started lookin' a lot better as well.

also check your gas flow and dont try to weld where there is a breeze. i hate when im laying down a good bead and the wind comes and blows the gasses away. that will cause the weld to be full of holes.

hy desert- Tell your local shop THEY SUCK! they should ALWAYS have gun liners for all the Lincolns & Millers. Also they SHOULD have all the consumables for the torch (diffusers, tip adapters,etc)
Can you Imagine if this was your Job & you needed it NOW!!! of course I always have new stuff in a box waiting for emergencies.

Toy 4 rox- to check for the resistance in the liner you could just try & see if you can push feed it through with your fingers from the drive side try it first without the contact tip in. It should move freely with minor resistance if its tough to move replace it . You can use shop air through an air gun to try , and blow it clean but this generally doesn't work well so you'll have to replace it. The contact tip can also get its diameter reduced from bad starts that burnback. If you can weld like you said your problems are more likely the PARTS. Try some of these things , and get back to us.
Excedding duty cycle should never have this effect on the machine- if its a decent machine it will have an overload protection circut that will shut off your ability to weld completely until machine is ready to weld(machines fan & power will remain on just no weld output).
weldpro

Noticed with the 110v (weld pak 10?) I use occasionally that if the ground clamp is too far from the actual spot your welding will get that problem.
Also as the spool gets low the wire doesn't feed smooth and I have to keep backing of the tension on the spool holder or I get uneven wire feed. Any ideas out there how to correct this last one?

Originally posted by Hayraker
You could have a problem with low voltage at your electrical outlet, that was my problem. how did you fix it??

ok i got new tips,and a ground clamp it got a little better but still not good.is there a way to check the regulater it is one that is set at the factory,only 1 on/off knob.i am so frustrated i had to finish my XO with someone elses welder.:confused: i am going to hook new romex from the power box to the truck and see if that helps.thanx to all:usa:

Originally posted by toy 4 rox
ok i got new tips,and a ground clamp it got a little better but still not good.

Are you tryin' to burn thru paint?

Originally posted by ppillard


Are you tryin' to burn thru paint? NO it is clean and new i got done the XO if you wont to see pix go to toy & 4 runner page look under YOHOO done my XO hope you like it :D :beer: :usa:

Originally posted by toy 4 rox
NO it is clean and new i got done the XO if you wont to see pix go to toy & 4 runner page look under YOHOO done my XO hope you like it :D :beer: :usa:

Looks like you abandoned using the mig and went with the stick. That was smart. 'Course, you never said what you were tryin' to weld with the mig, so maybe it wasn't the cage.

Good Lookin' cage! and I dig the way you did your sleeved joints! Looks sweet.